The Court of Appeal has dismissed William Power’s appeal against the severity of sentences imposed for possessing cannabis for supply, leaving in place a 10-year sentence with the final two years suspended and a concurrent five-year sentence.
Power pleaded guilty on the first day of trial to two offences: possession of cannabis worth about €9,000 for supply, and possession for supply of cannabis valued at approximately €71,114. On 26 April 2018, the Cork Circuit Criminal Court imposed five years for the first offence and 10 years for the second, suspending the final two years of the latter sentence on conditions intended to support rehabilitation.
The offences arose from a Garda operation on 31 January 2017. At sentencing, Detective Garda Eoin O’Toole said Power had used a cottage on Ballinlough Road, Cork, to store and distribute cannabis. The judgment records that Power was not living there; his co-accused, Ronald McKenzie, was the cottage’s sole occupant.
After Power left the premises carrying a shopping bag, Gardaí stopped and searched his vehicle and found cannabis valued at about €9,000 and €1,245 in cash. A subsequent search of the cottage found cannabis valued at €71,114, packaging and other items. The judgment records a fingerprint from Power on a box of latex gloves and DNA matching him on a glove. Power admitted the drugs found in his possession but did not accept responsibility for the drugs in the cottage.
Power argued that the sentencing judge had treated him more harshly than McKenzie, relied on opinion or hearsay evidence from the Garda witness, and failed to give proper weight to Power’s old conviction for personal possession of cocaine. The prosecution said the men had different roles and circumstances, and that McKenzie’s previous section 15A conviction triggered a mandatory minimum sentence.
The Court of Appeal said the evidence supported the sentencing judge’s conclusion that Power had an organising or managerial role. It also found the two men’s circumstances materially different: McKenzie was described as a paid storeman, had cooperated with Gardaí and had no forensic evidence linking him to the drugs in the cottage. The court noted that McKenzie’s sentence was listed for review after five years under a statutory provision concerning his addiction. It stressed that review did not mean he would be released then.
The appeal court considered Power’s 2005 conviction for personal possession of cocaine immaterial given the time that had passed. Finding no error of principle, it dismissed the appeal and declined to interfere with either sentence.